Knockdown toy glider



March 27, 1956 C. H. CLEVELAND KNOCKDOWN TOY GLIDER Original Filed Aug.13, 1951 INVENTOR.

United States Patent KNOCKDOWN TOY GLIDER Charles H. Cleveland,Portland, Oreg.

Continuation of application Serial No. 241,525, August 13, 1951. Thisapplication April 26, 1954, Serial No. 425,586

4 Claims. (Cl. 46-17) This invention relates to a toy glider andparticularly to a toy glider of the knockdown type.

The present application is a continuation of my copending applicationentitled Wing Attachment for Toy Airplanes, Serial No. 241,525, filedAugust 13, 1951, now abandoned.

Heretofore knockdown toy gliders have been constructed with both wingsformed as a unitary panel, which is most frequently curved or bent togive a dihedral effect, or, less frequently, flat. The unitary panel isdesigned to fit tightly or snugly within a slot formed in a fuselage,when the glider is erected or assembled, to provide a wing at each sideof the fuselage.

The packaged disassembled glider parts of such a conventional toy gliderare comparatively bulky because of the considerable span of the unitarywing panel and, in case of the panel is curved, because of the curvatureof the wing panel. It is evident that such bulky packaging adds to thecost of distribution and sale of such items. Furthermore, when the wingpanel is curved or bent, special packaging is frequently necessary inorder to prevent damage to such panel, and to prevent the panel fromlosing a considerable amount of its curvature or bend.

With the conventional glider it has not been possible. to form thefuselage slot and the unitary wing panel accurately enough to assuresymmetrical angular relationship, both in transverse and longitudinalplanes, of the unitary wing panel to the fuselage. Even with those.particular kits in which the preferable angular relationship of theunitary wing. panel to the fuselage is initially correct, this conditionis rather quickly destroyed and rendered unsatisfactory after the toyglider has been thrown several or more times and has collided with the.earth or other objects. Such collisions also frequently cause splittingor cracking of the fuselage along the slot and thus make the gliderthereafter unsatisfactory for use.

It is a main object of the present invention to provide a. knockdown toyglider having, instead of a unitary wing panel, two separate wingpanels, a separate. fuselage, and a releasable connector designed toreleasably hold the separate wing panels and fuselage in a,predetermined assembled aerodynamic relation. The separate. parts ofsuch a glider may be accommodated within a package which is only abouthalf the length of the package which much be provided to accommodate theparts of the con,- ventional toy glider. Furthermore, the connector ofthe present invention is particularly adapted for holding the wingpanels in a dihedral relationship. It is evident that the separate partsof such a glider may be contained within a package which is not onlyshort but which is also substantially flat as contrasted with thepackage required to accommodate a curved or bent unitary wing panel.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a knockdown toyglider of the type described in the. above paragraph, wherein theconnector is designed to be shifted along the fuselage to enable theuser to adjust the flight characteristics of the. glider from long.smooth glides to tight loops or turns.

ice

Another object of the present invention is to provide a knockdown toyglider having separate wing panels and a-fuselage made of a soft,penetrable, yet form-sustaining material, such as balsa wood, and aconnector made of a comparatively hard, impenetrable material and havinggrooves or slots receiving portions of the wing panels and fuselage,there being hard, impenetrable projections on the side walls of thegrooves or slots penetrating into the fuselage and wing panels. Thus,the wing panels and fuselage are retained against ready separation fromthe connector.

A further object is to provide a glider as described immediately abovewherein at least certain of the projections each has an abrupt inwardlyfacing portion and a relatively smooth outwardly facing portion topermit relatively ready insertion of the fuselage and wing panels intotheir respective slots or grooves, but to preclude ready separation ofsaid fuselage and wing panels from said slots or grooves.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a knockdown gliderhaving a slotted connector in which each slot is formed by a pair oflaterally flexible flanges having portions normally spaced apart adistance less than the thickness of the part fitting thereinto. Thuswhen a part is inserted between its flanges, the flanges will beexpanded or sprung apart and will fr'ictionally grip said part.

A still further object is to provide a connector for a glider as justdescribed wherein at least one. flange of each pair of flanges has aprojection on its inner Wall which is caused by the sprung apartcondition of the flanges to penetrate into the part received therein.

A further object of'the present invention is to provide a knockdown toyglider including a connector having fuselage receiving flanges so joinedto Wing receiving flanges that manipulation of the fuselage receivingflanges greatly facilitates. removal or insertion of the wings relativeto'the wing receiving; flanges.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a toyglider connector having the features of the connector described above.

Variousother objects of the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing a glider incorporating the conceptsof the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section taken along line Z2 of Fig. l in thedirection of the arrows.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, the knockdown toy gliderdisclosed includes two wings. or wing panels 1 fuselage 3. The glideralso includes a tail-assembly 4 of flat parts interfitted intocooperating slots in the end. of the fuselage but inasmuch as thesedetails are con-- ventional. and form no part of the present inventionthey need not be further described. The fuselage and wing panels are.bold in a predetermined assembled aerody' narnic relation by a centrallydisposed elongated con nector 5 as shown. The connector is designed tohold each wing at an obtuse. angle to the. fuselage and to the: otherwing and thus the wings are arranged at a positive dihedral angle. Theconnector could be designed to hold. the wings at substantially rightangles from the fuselagebut the flight characteristics. of such type ofglider are not as desirable or satisfactory as in the case where. the.wing panels are dihedrally arranged, as shown.

As shown in Fig. 2, the wing panels are relatively thin: as comparedwith the relatively thick fuselage. The. wings and fuselage arepreferably formed of balsa wood-,. or an equivalent light weight, soft,penetrable, yet formsustaining material, and the connector is formed ofa relaand 2, and a flat, elongated.

tively hard, impenetrable material such as for instance an extrudedthermoplastic material, such as polystyrene. The importance of therelative softness and hardness of the fuselage, wings and connector willbe apparent hereinafter.

Connector 5 includes a pair of longitudinally extending, laterallyflexible depending flanges 6 adapted to receive or be arranged instraddling relation to an upper straight edge portion of the fuselage.Thus these depending flanges may be termed fuselage holding flanges. Theconnector also includes two pairs of generally oppositely directed,longitudinally extending, laterally flexible flanges 7 and 3 adaptedrespectively to receive straight edge inboard ends of wing panels 1 and2. It is apparent from Fig. 2 that each pair of the above mentionedpairs of flanges are generally parallel and spaced to provide a slot orgroove substantially equal to or slightly narrower than the thickness ofthe part adapted to fit therein.

For clarity of description, the term lateral will be used to indicate adirection normal to any particular flange being discussed, considered incross section, such as in Fig. 2, and the term transverse will be usedto indicate a direction parallel to a flange considered in crosssection.

Referring to Fig. 2, it is evident that the wing receiving slots orgrooves in connector 5 extend transversely inwardly beyond the fuselageholding flanges and are joined at their inner ends by what will beconsidered a common web which extends centrally longitudinally of theconnector. it is thus evident that the fuselage holding flanges areconnected to the lower wing holding flanges at places spaced outwardlyfrom the inner ends of said lower wing holding flanges. The importanceof this construction is that inward flexing of the fuselage holdingflanges 6, at a time when the fuselage 3 is removed, will positivelydownwardly flex the lower wing holding flanges a considerable amountrelatively independently of the upper wing holding flanges to thus widenthe slots or grooves provided by the wing holding flanges. This actionallows ready insertion or withdrawal of the wing panels relative to thewin g holding flanges.

Another important advantages resulting from the above describedstructural design will be set forth hereinafter.

Formed on the side walls of the wing slots or grooves in connector 5,that is on the inner walls of the wing holding flanges, are projections9, three of such projections being shown for each pair of wing holdingflanges. Since these projections are integral parts of the connector 5,such projections are formed of hard, impenetrable material as comparedwith the soft, penetrable material of the wing panels.

As previously mentioned, the spacing between each pair of wing holdingflanges is substantially equal to or slightly less than the thickness ofthe inboard end of the wing panel fitting therewithin. It is thusevident that the projections 9 narrow the wing receiving slots orgrooves at the places at which they are located, so that when theinboard ends of the wings are forced between their respective wingholding flanges said flanges will be expanded or sprung apart and theprojections will be caused to embed or penetrate into the inboard endsof the wing panels.

Projections 9 comprise longitudinally extending ridges or ribs which maybe conveniently formed during the extrusion of the connector. Althoughthe form of projection shown is preferable, it is evident thatprojections having slightly different forms and achieving substantiallythe same result could be provided. The three projections 9 and each pairof wing holding flanges are arranged in transverse offset relation. Thatis, two of such projections are provided on the inner wall of the upperwing holding flange in transverse spaced relation, and one projection onthe inner wall of the lower wing holding flange generally transverselybetween the upper projections. Thus, maximum penetration of saidprojections into the relatively thin inboard ends of the wing panels isfacilitated because no projection interferes with.

the penetration of another projection, as would be the case if twoprojections were arranged in opposed relation on opposite sides of arelatively thin wing panel.

Referring to Fig. 2, each projection 9 has a right triangularcross-sectional shape and is arranged so as to present an abruptinwardly facing portion, that is inwardly in a transverse direction, andhas a gradually sloping, relatively smooth outwardly facing portion.This means that insertion of a wing panel between its wing holdingflanges is rendered relatively easy, but ready withdrawal or separationof the wing panel from the Wing holding flanges is precluded.

Formed on the side walls of the fuselage slot, that is on the innerwalls of the fuselage holding flanges 6, are two projections 10 and 11,each constituting a longitudinally extending rib or ridge and beingdisposed locally of the lower end of its flange. Like projections 9,projections 1i) and 11 have abrupt inwardly facing portions, that is,inwardly in a transverse direction, and unabrupt, smooth outwardlyfacing portions to thus permit relatively ready insertion of thefuselage between the fuselage holding flanges 6, but precluding readywithdrawal of said fuselage from said fuselage holding flanges.

As previously mentioned, the fuselage holding flanges 6 are spaced aparta distance substantially equal to or slightly less than the thickness ofthe fuselage and thus the projections 16 and 11 narrow the space or slotprovided between the fuselage holding'flanges so that the flanges areexpanded or sprung apart when the fuselage is forced therebetween tothus cause the projections 10 and 11 to embed or penetrate into thefuselage. Also, as previously mentioned, the fuselage holding flanges 6are connected to the lower wing holding flanges at places spacedoutwardly from the inner ends of the wing holding flanges and thusoutward flexing of the fuselage holding flanges causes the lower wingholding flanges to flex upwardly'relatively independently of the upperWing holding flanges to thus increase the grip of the wing holdingflanges on the inboard ends of the wing panels.

Although the fuselage holding flanges 6 of connector 5 relativelytightly frictionally grip the fuselage 3, longitudinal shifting oradjustment of the connector along the fuselage is possible by overcomingthe frictional force resisting longitudinal shifting movement of theconnector. It is pointed out that such frictional resistance will beconsiderably less than the frictional resistance resisting directtransverse separation of the fuselage and connector because the end areaof the projections 10 and 11 is obviously only a small fraction of thearea of the abrupt longitudinal faces of such projections. Suchlongitudinal shifting or adjustment of the connector permits the user toadjust the flight characteristics of the toy glider anywhere betweenlong smooth glides to tight loops or turns.

In order to permit longitudinal shifting or adjustment of the connectoralong the fuselage and still maintain appropriate frictional grippingrelation of the connector on the fuselage, the fuselage is made ofuniform crosssectional thickness, at least at the upper portion thereofalong which the connector is to be shifted. The fuselage has a straightupper edge portion 12 along which the connector may be adjusted.

The advantages of the knockdown toy glider of the present invention arebelieved apparent from the foregoing description and here will merely benoted. By the provision of a centrallydisposed releasable connector, aknockdown glider having its wings dihedrally'arrauged has been provided,which glider in its disassembled state may be accommodated within arelatively short, flat package in contrast to the bulky packagenecessary in packaging the disassembled parts of the conventionalknockdown toy gliden Further, the aerodynamic characteristicsof theknockdown toy glider of the present invention are much superior to thoseof conventional knockdown toy gliders, in that the connector of theglider of the present invention positively holds the fuselage and wingpanels of its glider uniformly in a predetermined desired aerodynamicangular relation. This desired aerodynamic angular relation may beaccurately predetermined because the connector, being made of extrudedplastic or similar material, can be accurately formed, which was notpossible with the unitary wing panel and slotted fuselage typeconstruction of conventional knockdown toy gliders. Furthermore, the toyglider of the present invention may be used over and over again withlittle possibility of permanent damage, since even under high impactcollision conditions all that occurs is that the connector is shiftedslightly along the fuselage. Thus, there is no possibility of splittingthe fuselage as frequently occurs in a slotted fuselage typeconventional knockdown toy glider. Although it is possible withconventional knockdown toy gliders for the user to adjust the long spanwing panel longitudinally of the fuselage in a relatively long fuselageslot, there is no assurance of maintaining an accurate transverserelation of the long span wing panel and the fuselage because of thecapability and tendency of the long span wing panel to turn within theslot. In the glider of the present invention, longitudinal adjustment ofthe wings, while maintaining the desired transverse relation of thewings to the fuselage, is readily accomplished because of thelongitudinally adjustable connector, which accurately transversely holdsthe Wings in the desired positions.

Having described the invention in what is considered to be the preferredembodiment thereof, it is desired that it be understood that theinvention is not to be limited by the specific details shown unless theyconstitute critical features of the present invention, all of which willbe apparent by reference to the following claims.

I claim:

1. A knockdown toy glider comprising a separate fuselage and twoseparate wing panels, an elongated centrally disposed releasableconnector including a first pair of flanges arranged in straddlingrelation to a portion of the fuselage, a second pair of flanges arrangedin straddling relation to the inboard end of one wing panel, and a thirdpair of flanges arranged in straddling relation to the inboard end ofthe other panel, said flanges extending longitudinally of the connectorand being laterally flexible, the flanges of each pair beingsubstantially parallel and being spaced apart a distance substantiallyequal to the thickness of the part fitting therewithin, said second andthird pairs of flanges being disposed at equal angles with respect tosaid first pair of flanges, said fuselage and wing panels being made ofa soft, penetrable, yet form-sustaining material on the order of balsawood, said connector being made of a hard impenetrable material ascompared with the material of the fuselage and wing panels, at leastcertain of said flanges each having at least one projection on the innerwall thereof, the projection penetrating into the opposed fuselage orwing panel portions, at least certain of said projections each having anabrupt inwardly facing portion and a relatively smooth outwardly facingportion, whereby to permit ready insertion of the fuselage and wingpanels between their respective pairs of flanges but to preclude readywithdrawal or separation of said fuselage and wing panels from saidpairs of flanges.

2. A toy glider connector adapted for holding in assembled relationshipthe fuselage and two wing panels of a knockdown toy glider, saidconnnector comprising a member having three pairs of longitudinallyparallel,

laterally flexible flanges, one pair of said flanges adapted to receivea portion of the fuselage, another pair of flanges being angularlydisposed with respect to the first mentioned pair of flanges and beingadapted to receive the inboard end of one wing panel, and the third pairof flanges being angularly disposed at least with respect to the firstand second mentioned pairs of flanges and adapted to receive the inboardend of the other wing panel, at least one flange of each pair having aprojection on the inner wall thereof, at least certain of saidprojections each hav ing an abrupt inwardly facing portion and arelatively gradually sloping smooth outwardly facing portion, whereby topermit ready insertion of the fuselage and wing panels between saidflanges, but to preclude ready withdrawal or separation of said fuselageand wing panels from said flanges.

3. A toy glider connector for detachably holding in assembledrelationship a fuselage and a pair of relatively thin toy glider wingpanels made of soft, penetrable, yet form-sustaining material such asbalsa wood, said connector comprising an elongated member having threepairs of longitudinally extending, laterally flexible flanges, twooppositely extending pairs of which constitute wing holding flanges,said pairs of flanges being angularly disposed relative to one anotherconsidered in a transverse plane through said connector and adapted torespectively receive portions of a fuselage and two Wing panels, eachwing holding flange having at least one inwardly projecting portion onthe inner wall thereof, the projections on each pair of wing holdingflanges being oflset relative to one another considered in a transversedirection to the associated flanges, whereby said projecting portionsare permitted maximum penetration into relatively thin wing panelswithout interferring with the penetration of one another.

4. A toy glider fuselage and wing panel holding connector adapted forholding a pair of wing panels and a fuselage in assembled relationship,comprising an elon gated member including generally oppositely extendingfirst and second pairs of wing holding flanges joined together at theiradjacent ends, said pairs of flanges adapted to receive and hold ingripping relationship the inboard ends of a pair of wing panels, saidflanges being laterally flexible, and a pair of fuselage holdingflanges, one of said last mentioned flanges being fixed to and dependingfrom each of the lower wing holding flanges in spaced relation to theinner ends of said lower flanges, whereby when said depending fuselageholding flanges are pressed inwardly toward one another, the lower wingholding flanges will be positively flexed downwardly to widen the spacesbetween the wing holding flanges for ready insertion or withdrawal ofthe inboard ends of the wing panels, and when said fuselage holdingflanges are expanded by insertion of the fuselage therebetween theycause upward movement of said lower wing holding flanges to cause saidwing holding flanges to tightly grip the wing panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,572,166 Smith Feb. 9, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS 480,454 Great Britain Feb.23, 1938

